Summit Speakers

Andrew Hagger

Head of Climate Change and Sustainability for London Borough of Richmond and of Wandsworth

Andrew Hagger is Head of Climate Change and Sustainability for London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth, leading climate action across both boroughs to reach a net zero target of 2043 for half a million people. Andrew has worked in local government for over 15 years in South Wales and London, with a background in policy, governance, health and social care, and sustainability. Andrew is passionate about local government’s role in and potential for delivering climate action for residents and communities.

Anthony McClaran

Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University

Anthony McClaran became the third Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University in April 2020, having returned to the UK from Australia, where he served as CEO of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) from 2015 to 2020. Prior to that move, Anthony was Chief Executive of the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) from 2009-15 and Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) from 2003-09. He has held a number of governance roles at all levels of education and was Chair of Council and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire from 2007 to 2009. Anthony is currently Chair of GuildHE and in June 2021 was appointed by Pope Francis to the Board of AVEPRO, the Holy See’s HE quality assurance agency.

Carol Squires

Head of Employment, Skills & Economic Development at London Borough of Croydon

Chloe Donovan

Managing Director of Natural Building Systems and Material Research Limited.

Chloe Donovan is Managing Director of Natural Building Systems and Material Research Limited. Together these ventures are working symbiotically to create an award winning carbon-negative and bio-based modular system which marks a major step forward in sustainable construction. She is also Trustee of the Food Ethics Council and a founder of a farm based social enterprise and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the UK’s top 100 female environmentalists.

Chris Baker

Director at Studio Zao

Chris is an innovation programme leader and expert practitioner. Highly experienced and trusted transformation consultant including for Pfizer, AptarGroup, NHS, London councils, TFL & Crisis.

Previously at Deloitte, specialising in HR Transformation projects for Burberry, Discovery, Allianz, NTT, BT, Sophos.

Ex Managing Director of The Circle of Intrapreneurs, inspiring and developing social innovation inside organisations.

Dexter Simms

Founder of Mula Cake Ltd

Award-winning Entrepreneur of the year!

“You must always have a vision, plan or goal and ours was to never be a normal clothing line. Anything is possible!”

Mula Cake Limited. ‘Mula’ and ‘Cake’ were put together by its founder Dexter Simms who believes that both items bring a mixture of fun and pleasure to everyone. ‘Mula’- meaning money always helps one to feel happy about life and ‘Cake’ – well they always bring a sense of enjoyment and pleasure to all who that eat them!

Dexter Simms’s ethos is ‘each one teach one’ with an aim to share his incredible experience and knowledge to inspire as many people as possible.

Dexter Simms shares his knowledge and achievements by going into schools, colleges and prisons etc with the main aim of fuelling & promoting his entrepreneurial mindset. Please get in contact for bookings or more details.

Dianna Neal

Strategic Lead for Enterprise, Economy and Skills, London Councils

Dianna has worked in local government in different roles for over 25 years. For the past 20 years she has worked on economic development, skills, employment and cultural policy in London. This involved overseeing related grants programmes in these areas, including a European Social Fund programme, and making the case for devolved resources in London and for London boroughs such as the Work and Health programme and adult skills.

Currently, she leads on economic, employment and skills policy for London Councils.

Duncan Brown

Forbes Low

Chief Executive, Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of Forbes Design Associates

Forbes has a long history with the Chamber, he joined as a member in 2009, later becoming a Director and then President.

Forbes is also a graphic designer and has run his own business, Forbes Design Associates since 1998.  Forbes is based locally and is a former Kingston Grammar School pupil.

Forbes took up the role of Chief Executive in April 2019.

Councillor Gareth Roberts

 Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group

Cllr Gareth Roberts has served on Richmond Council since 2010 when he was first elected as a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Hampton.  He held the seat at subsequent elections and in 2015 became leader of the Opposition Group on the Council. In 2018, following the landslide election result which saw the Liberal Democrats go from an opposition group of 14 Councillors to an administration of 39 councillors, he was elected as Leader of the Council. At the elections held in May 2022, the Liberal Democrats increased their majority on the council from 39 to 48 out of a maximum of 54 Councillors.

Jace Tyrrell

Opportunity London CEO

During a 25-year career in urban regeneration, destination development and campaigning in the UK and Australia, Jace has led successful industry and precinct partnerships and holds the world record for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). His recent tenures include CEO of New West End Company (London’s West End), setting up Australia’s first BID across Sydney’s Western Harbour and incoming CEO for Opportunity London, the public/private partnership seeking to secure the next £100bn for London. Jace has represented thousands of businesses and employees, secured millions in funding and successfully advocated for billions into capital investment.

His entire career has been spent in building meaningful collaborations and driving value across cities with businesses, working with Government at all levels and cultivating local communities.

Jace is passionate about sustainable and innovative cities, commercial real estate, and the retail & leisure sectors. He thrives in leading award-winning teams and working with purpose-driven businesses. He is an Alumnus of the London Business School and Griffith University, Australia.

Jane Mossman

Head of Business Decarbonisation, West London Business, Better Futures

Jasmine Husband

Innovation Project Manager at Places for London

Mayor Jason Perry

Conservative Mayor of Croydon

Jason Perry was elected as the first executive Mayor of Croydon on 5 May 2022.

A South Croydon resident, Jason Perry has represented his community as a member of Croydon Council since 1994, where he began as Conservative Councillor for Coulsdon East Ward. Jason was brought up on a council estate in Hamsey Green, and was educated in Croydon schools, before graduating from the University of London with Honours in History. He was elected as a ward councillor for Croham from 2002 to 2018, after which it became South Croydon.

During his time on Croydon Council, Jason has served in numerous positions, including chair of the licensing committee, vice-chair of both the strategic planning committee and planning committee, and as cabinet member for planning and regeneration from 2008 to 2014.

Jecel Censoro

Lead for Net Zero, Insights North East

Jecel Censoro is a professional in the development sector with a 15-year track record spanning over 20 countries. Specialising in governance, public policy, sustainable development, and the use of technology to improve public services, Jecel has worked with diverse stakeholders including national governments, businesses, and academic institutions. Currently, she leads the ‘Planet and Net Zero’ theme at Insights North East and coordinates the Better Climate Governance initiative. As an active contributor to the Earth Systems Governance and Sustainable Solutions Network, Jecel brings valuable expertise on sustainability highlighting the importance of global south involvement. Hailing from the Philippines, her commitment to sustainability, well-being, and social justice is profound.

Jecel holds a PhD in Sustainability and International Politics, Master in Public Administration, Diploma in Public Management, and Bachelor in Psychology. Her accolades include Rotaract Young Leaders, Microsoft Education Champions, and British Council Global Changemakers. Her previous roles involved working for the Asian Development Bank and the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific. Outside her professional work, Jecel practices and teaches mindfulness as part of her advocacy to promote sufficient use of natural resources.

Dr Joe Marshall

Chief Executive Officer, The National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB)

Formerly Chief Operating Officer and Director of Strategy at NCUB, Dr Joe Marshall took over as Chief Executive in summer 2018.

Prior to joining the National Centre, Dr Marshall has held a number of positions across government and university organisations. As an academic specialising in government education policy and practice he worked with a number of international agencies including UNESCO, WHO and the European Parliament.

A researcher at the University of Manchester, he went onto hold senior lectureship positions at Liverpool Hope University and University of Worcester before working for UK Sport (the government agency for elite sport) and then the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

John McNamara

Innovate UK EDGE Invest-ability Investment Readiness Specialist

Starting his career as an investment analyst with S.G. Warburg, John went on to build a career in finance prior to transitioning into entrepreneurship. He spent his early career working in private equity and finance for world-leading companies including as Merrill Lynch & Allen & Overy.

For the last 2 decades he has worked with 1000s of entrepreneurs to help them raise capital to grow and scale and is a volunteer mentor for Tech Stars as part of their Global Accelerator Network.

In his current role as an Investment Specialist, he is responsible for co-ordinating Newable’s Investment Readiness support to early-stage companies. Over the last 2 years he has also helped companies to raise over £25m across agri-tech, prop tech and med tech verticals.

As a key opinion leader in the start-up eco system in London he is a regular panel contributor on raising investment for scaling innovative technology. He has a strong presence on LinkedIn and is a passionate Net Zero advocate with a special interest in influencing change to accelerate capital investment in innovative low carbon technologies.

Jonathon Clark

Head of Investment Programmes, Capital Enterprise

Jonny is the Investment Programmes Lead at Capital Enterprise. He began his career in economic development at Liverpool City Region LEP, working on business growth programmes, research and policy around digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. He then ran ‘Activate’, a flagship ERDF-funded project and grant fund tailored towards scaling early stage digital, creative and technology businesses. Following this, he embarked on a consulting career – supporting prestigious big brands’ innovation and venturing efforts and coaching startup founders – whilst he co-founded and grew GDPR Defender, a legal knowledge tool that supports SME data privacy compliance. Jonny has made several angel investments (including a number of ‘Tech Nation Rising Stars’ winners) and holds a number of advisory and non-executive roles across enterprise and the public sector that advocate for startups – including as a founding team member of the acclaimed ‘Baltic Ventures’ accelerator in Liverpool and the Organiser of Liverpool Slush’D.

Kirsty MaCauley

Senior Clinical Programme Manager Anchors & Sustainability Network, NHS England – London

Liz Shutt

Programme Director, Insights North East

Liz Shutt is Programme Director for Insights North East, a Research England funded initiative to connect policy makers with the academic evidence base. As Programme Director she is responsible for establishing the organisation, developing key relationships, setting strategic direction, spotting new opportunities and overall delivery of actionable insights for our policy partners.

Previously, Liz was Director of Policy for the University of Lincoln and the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, where she worked to connect the University with local and national policy development. In that time, she has played a leading role on various projects to help shape and develop regional and university strategy including 21st Century Lab, which focussed on the purpose of university in relation to the challenges of the 21st Century, the Local Industrial Strategy, the Innovation Strategy for the Humber Freeport and the University’s Regional Inequality Commission. Prior to this Liz had a well-established career in higher education policy, in Universities UK and working to establish University Alliance as a new policy representative group in the sector. She has also worked for Department for Work and Pensions and Sheffield Hallam University.

Luan Baptista

Climate Partnership Manager, London Borough of Sutton

Luan Baptista Ribeiro is the Climate Partnership Manager at the London Borough of Sutton. In this role, he has spearheaded the development and implementation of the Green Enterprise Partnership, thought to be the UK’s first initiative to offer tax incentives for smaller, everyday businesses, to advance on their sustainability journeys.

Before joining Sutton Council, Luan worked for C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, where he led initiatives such as the City Solution Platform (CSP) and the City-Business Climate Alliance (CBCA), aimed at accelerating climate action through city-business collaboration. Notably, while working with industry partners and the city government of Rio de Janeiro, Luan facilitated the development of a tender model that allowed the city to introduce, at the time, the largest fleet of electric waste collection vehicles in the world outside China.

Luan also served as a Special Adviser for International Relations at São Paulo’s Mayor’s Office. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Catholic University of Sao Paulo and a Master’s degree from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit at UCL. Luan also recently completed a programme study in communication at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and is currently pursuing a programme in sustainable finance at the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.

Dr Mario Gruber

Researcher & consultant, Westminster City Council

Dr. Mario Gruber holds a PhD from King’s College London with a thesis on complex system transitions & social acceptance of sustainable innovations. He served as co-director of the London & South Forum of the UK Productivity Institute focusing on leading-edge research and practical interventions for economic & social benefit, financial return & environmental gain. Subsequently, Dr. Gruber was contracted by several large local governments, incl. Lambeth & Westminster City Council, as sole consultant to devise their respective Green Economy strategies. Today, he is among the most specialised in the field regarding business growth & financial return in the context of maximising synergies in public value & sustainability.

Mark Corbett

Mark Corbett is Head of Policy and Networks at London Higher. Mark has worked across a variety of policy areas within government and for business membership organisations. His experience includes the Industrial Strategy, innovation and energy policy, labour markets and higher education. Mark received his Postgraduate Diploma in Public Services Management from the University of York.

Matthew Hamilton

Director, South London Partnership

Matthew Hamilton started as Director of the South London Partnership in January 2023. He has previously worked in local government both at the Local Government Association (LGA) when he oversaw the delivery of the LGAs £20 million improvement programme. Matthew has also led membership organisations for district councils and universities delivering nursing and AHP education. Prior to this, he worked at the Department of Health where he worked as a Private Secretary with ministers and took through the bill that created the Care Quality Commission.

Michelle Reeves

Senior Manager, Policy and Programmes, GLA & London Research & Policy Partnership

Dr Michelle Reeves is Head of the GLA’s Strategy Team, and Co-Founder of the London Research and Policy Partnership (LRaPP) with Professor Ben Rogers, University of London. She is an experienced project leader, policymaker, and researcher with a track-record of delivering high-profile and complex projects in regeneration, cultural and creative industries, and sport. These include 12-years working in a variety of roles shaping the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and setting up the London Recovery Programme to address the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Neil Pearce

Head of Knowledge Exchange and Innovation, London South Bank University

Neil Pearce is Head of Knowledge Exchange and Innovation in London South Bank University’s Research and Innovation Services division. Neil is responsible for driving the commercialisation of research through collaborations with business, public bodies, and charities to meet the university’s strategic goals. These goals are aligned to government aspirations and UN SDGs. One of the key areas of LSBU’s research expertise is in meeting the net zero agenda, and to date the university has had significant real world impact benefiting people, place and community.

Nicola Bradley

Business Engagement Lead

Nicky is part of ReLondon’s business transformation team, supporting small and medium sized businesses in London on their circular economy journeys. Nicky leads the engagement strategy for businesses operating within the plastic and food industries and manages the Circular Economy Matchmaker, showcasing London’s innovative businesses and connecting them to opportunities to amplify their reach.

Paul Kirkbright

Head of Knowledge Exchange and Partnerships, South London Partnership & BIG South London

Paul Kirkbright is Programme Director at BIG South London, which leads the development of a world-class ecosystem of innovation and enterprise based collaboration to stimulate knowledge-based growth and improve productivity right across the South London region.

BIG South London brings together knowledge and expertise to support the growth, development and success of all South London-based businesses, charities, and third-sector organisations through its partner universities and further education colleges.

Minister Paul Scully

Minister for London and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy)

Paul Scully was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy) at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 7 February 2023. He is also Minister for London, having been appointed on 13 February 2020.

He was previously:

• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 27 October 2022 to 7 February 2023
• Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between 7 July 2022 and 27 October 2022
• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 13 February 2020 to July 2022.

He was elected the Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam on 7 May 2015.

Peter Mayhew-Smith

Principal & CEO, South Thames Colleges Group

I’ve worked as a Lifelong Learning practitioner for thirty years now, starting out as a community education tutor in west London in 1988 before moving to manage the Basic and Key Skills provision at South Thames College. I moved to Lewisham College in 1998 as Head of Key Skills, progressing to Director of Faculty with a remit for General Education, Adult Education, Basic and Key Skills, ESOL, learning disabilities and learning support, and becoming Vice-Principal for Quality and Curriculum Development in 2006.

In April 2010 I became Principal of Kingston College and then Principal of both Kingston and Carshalton Colleges in 2011, when the two colleges federated, forming the first College group of its kind and overseeing £45m-worth of learning in south-west London. In 2013 Kingston College was graded ‘Good’ by Ofsted for the first time ever; Carshalton also secured its first ever ‘Good’ grade shortly after, in 2014. In 2017, Kingston College, Carshalton College and South Thames College merged to become South Thames financial Colleges Group. I was appointed Group Principal and Chief Executive and have led the Group since then to ‘Outstanding’ financial health and a ‘Good’ Ofsted grade in 2020.

Polly Persechino

Pru Ashby

Head of Sustainability for London & Partners

Pru Ashby is Head of Sustainability for London & Partners and is responsible for leading L&P’s urban innovation and sustainability sector work and supporting L&P’s sustainability strategy in support of L&P’s mission.

Pru has spent 16 years with London & Partners where she has developed a strong reputation in supporting companies in their globalisation. She completed a secondment at Tech City UK, the team set up by the UK Government to support Tech City, now the largest tech cluster in Europe, and is seen as pivotal to its growth. She has an extensive network of connections within the tech community in London, the USA and globally and was also based in New York for 2 years for London & Partners.

Previously, Pru studied engineering at university and lived and worked in Australia, New Zealand and China in the utilities and events sectors.

Rachel Bennett

Strategic Lead for the South London Careers Hub

Richard Keogh

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and External Engagement) at the University of Roehampton

Dr Richard Keogh is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and External Engagement) at the University of Roehampton, where he has responsibility for the development and implementation of the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Strategy. He is a passionate advocate for co-produced research, social impact, and the delivery of vocational education in the community, and for the community. Richard has generated over £7m grant income to support capital development and social impact initiatives

Professor Rodney Day

Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation), LSBU

Rodney has recently taken up the post of Pro Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) at London South Bank University (LSBU) to lead and drive forward the institutions research and innovation portfolio, and its ambitious plans for the future. Rodney has experience of large scale complex research projects, multiple knowledge transfer projects, industry consultancy and collaboration, business development and CPD provision. Rodney is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Before joining LSBU Rodney was Dean of the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire, a School of over 7000 students, 300 staff, and international collaborations across the UK and globally.

Shona Campbell

Shona Campbell is the Knowledge Transfer Adviser for West Sussex, Surrey and South London, helping businesses to scope their knowledge transfer needs and make connections with academic institutions, with a focus on developing Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). This well-established funding scheme enables innovative businesses to engage with expert academic teams to deliver a project which boosts business growth alongside delivering societal, environmental and cultural benefits.

Shona has a degree in Plant Science from the University of Glasgow and a PhD in Plant Molecular Genetics from the University in Leeds. Following 10 years supporting agrifood research programmes, she then moved to the University of Brighton, initially as KTP Manager, and ultimately as Director of Knowledge Exchange.